To whom, which have Herbert Weir Smyth's Greek Grammar...

[Lumen_et_umbra]

How long did it take for you to master the many rules and exceptions outlined in the first 48 pages or so?<br /><br />I personally find the abundance of information overwhelming - particularly as I am reading Gildersleeve's Latin Grammar, and Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, contemporaneously.<br /><br />Can anyone tell me that it is not entirely necessary to remember ALL of the information on those pages?

[mingshey]

I can't tell, but I would rather concentrate on memorizing the paradigms first. That's at least what I'm doing. The detailed description in Smyth's would, however, fill in the gaps and tell you of what's happening behind the mysterious changes accompanied by the inflections, etc..<br />If you are not going to teach greek, you might skim over the details. But then again, more fluent people might tell you different story.

[annis]

Gosh, you don't memorize a grammar book! Smyth is a reference. When you need to know about vowel gradation, he'll point you to that section. You'll see most of the book eventually as you look things up and follow the cross-references. I cannot imagine reading it straight through.<br /><br />